Word
ذهبت إلى المركز اليوم، لكنه لم يكن مفتوحا في الساعة التاسعة.
Meaning
I went to the center today, but it was not open at nine o’clock.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Breakdown of ذهبت إلى المركز اليوم، لكنه لم يكن مفتوحا في الساعة التاسعة.
الى
to
يذهب
to go
اليوم
today
في
at/in
Questions & Answers about ذهبت إلى المركز اليوم، لكنه لم يكن مفتوحا في الساعة التاسعة.
Does ذهبت mean I went or she went?
It can mean either one in normal unvoweled Arabic writing.
- ذَهَبْتُ = I went
- ذَهَبَتْ = she went
Arabic usually leaves out short vowels, so context tells you which meaning is intended. If your translation says I went, then the intended form here is ذَهَبْتُ.
Why is إلى used after ذهب?
Because ذهب إلى is the standard MSA pattern for to go to.
So:
- ذهب إلى المركز = he went to the center
- ذهبت إلى المركز = I/she went to the center
In other words, إلى is the preposition that expresses movement toward a destination here.
Why is it المركز and not just مركز?
المركز means the center, while مركز means a center or just center in an indefinite sense.
In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific center, so Arabic uses the definite article الـ. Also, after the preposition إلى, the noun is grammatically in the genitive case, so in full vocalization it would be إلى المركزِ.